Mistletoe
by Graceybrook
Summary: This is my fic for my OnceUponASecretSanta for Meredith-Derek on tumblr. I got slightly carried away so it's become a multi-chapter fic Prompt: A fic with a town Christmas party where Regina jokingly has to kiss Emma under the mistletoe, which eventually leads to their feelings for each other coming out and have a perfect dramatic Christmas day love proclaiming thing
1. Christmas Eve 2014

**This is my fic for my OnceUponASecretSanta and it started with the prompt(s) below, I was gonna mainly do the second one and flashback to the first but I got slightly carried away so it's become a multi-chapter fic ****J**

**I own nothing *cries dramatically***

**Prompt #1: A fic with a town Christmas party where Regina jokingly has to kiss Emma under the mistletoe, which eventually leads to their feelings for each other coming out and have a perfect dramatic Christmas day love proclaiming thing**

**Prompt #2: A Christmas themed Swan Queen fic! This can be one shot or multi chaptered, whatever you are more comfortable with/have the time to do. One where they are established married and together as a family and have Henry and another baby would be amazing**

**12****th**** December 2017**

It was that time of year again; time for the tree, the lights and the tinsel to go up. Emma smiled as she brought the decorations down from the loft and thought, another Christmas with her amazing family. As she set the boxes down at the foot of the ladder, something green caught the corner of her eye and she giggled.

Mistletoe.

She turned to find the culprit standing in the doorway of their bedroom with a mischievous grin on her face.

**~~~Christmas Eve 2014~~~**

The Christmas after Elsa left, Emma was feeling a bit down. She had lost a great friend when Elsa had returned to Arendelle and over the months, she'd drifted apart from Hook. He had fought with Will again and it'd been the last straw. Turned out Mr Gold was right about him being the man he always was and she didn't really want Henry or Neal around him.

So there she was, standing in the corner of her parent's apartment on Christmas Eve with a glass of wine in one hand and a sausage roll in the other. She watched the gaggle of fairy-tale characters milling around, cooing at her baby brother, and picking at Granny's buffet.

As she watched, she noticed that she wasn't the only lonely one at the party. Regina was leaning against a pillar in the kitchen as Mary Margaret heated up Neal's night time bottle. Those two had grown much closer since defeating Zelena and Robin's departure, Emma was still getting used to it. She moved over to where Regina stood and sighed.

"How's my drinking buddy holding up?" Regina finished what was left of her wine before answering. "Well, I've just finished my 3rd glass of wine this evening, so how do you think?"

"Sounds to me like you need a 4th." Emma replies with a grin. Regina simply smiled as the blonde reached for the bottle behind the counter and poured them both a hefty glug. Raising her glass in a toast to Henry's happiness Emma and Regina's glasses clinked and they each took a good swig of the burgundy liquid that lay within.

As the night moved on the pair became more and more inebriated, giggling tipsily in the corner whilst Henry and his grandparents watched with amusement. It got to a point (Emma doesn't remember exactly when) where David came over and offered to drive Henry and Regina home. It had already been agreed that he was to spend Christmas Eve with Regina and Christmas night with Emma. The two women stumbled to the door, trying to act as sober as they could but failing miserably. Emma reached to collect their coats when she felt a nudge from Regina. She looked over her shoulder and Regina giggled, pointing to the ceiling above her head.

Mistletoe.

Still grinning, Regina moved to peck Emma on the cheek but at precisely the moment when lips would've met cheek, Emma turned to fully face Regina and their lips crashed together. Neither of them realised what happened until they pulled apart a few moments later. Regina's mouth had dropped open slightly as she realised what she had just done. She had initiated that kiss (even though Emma had turned at the wrong time) and she had felt a spark of something she never thought she'd feel again since Robin had left.

Thankfully, no one saw as Mary Margaret and David were putting Neal to sleep and Henry was in the bathroom. Mumbling slightly Regina grabbed her coat off the hook next to Emma's head and slipped out to wait in the hall.

Still tipsy and now confused Emma's brow furrowed as David reappeared from his room, "Where's Regina?" he asked, just as Henry joined them at the door. Emma pointed wordlessly to the hallway before climbing the stairs to her room. David and Henry glanced at each other in confusion and opened the door to find Regina sat at the top of the stairs, head in her hands and groaning quietly. "Let's get you two home then." David sighed as he leant to help Regina up and with the help of David and Henry, Regina made it safely to the truck, only stumbling once.

The two men helped her into the passenger side and moved around to get in themselves, talking in hushed tones as they went. It was only when they clambered into the truck that Regina realised they were talking about Emma.

"I don't know Henry, you'd have to ask your mother." Regina's ears pricked up at this and she forced her tired head up to look at her son.

"Mom do you know why Ma was acting weird when we left?" Regina flushed. Had Emma felt it too? A spark between them when they had shared that kiss? Thankfully neither of the men could see her flushed cheeks so she merely muttered that she had no idea and stared straight ahead trying her best to keep her sudden nausea at bay.

Pulling up outside the Regina's house David stopped the truck and moved to help her inside until her words stopped him. "Thank you for driving us David but I think I can make it inside on my own. I'll see you for lunch tomorrow."

Regina pulled herself out of the truck and leant against it while Henry got out behind her. Waving as David drove off, Henry and his mom made their way up to their door where a forest green wreath with a golden bow hung. Regina fumbled around in her bag for her keys before stumbling through the door and kicking off her heels. Henry moved into the kitchen and Regina quietly followed. She stood against the doorframe and watched as he poured her some water and got some aspirin out of the cupboard to counteract her oncoming hangover. Giving him a hug, Regina gulped down the water and aspirin before refilling the glass to take to bed.

"Mom, what happened between you and Ma?" The question surprised Regina in the silence and she looked uneasily at the floor as she asked him what he was talking about.

"Mom please, I've known you both for 10 years, seriously two sets of memories in my head gets really confusing sometimes, and I can always see when something is up. And something is definitely up." Henry finished, looking pointedly at his mother. It was clear he wasn't about to let the matter go.

Regina took a deep breath, closed her eyes and spoke

"_Emma and I kissed._" Hearing no response from her son, Regina slowly opened her eyes, fearing the look of disgust she expected to see. Instead, she was pleasantly surprised to see her son's grinning face.

"Well it's about bloody time!" He exclaimed.

"Henry watch your language." Regina scolded out of habit, before doing a double take as the words sunk in, "Wait, what do you mean it's about time?"

"Well, ever since Robin left and Emma broke up with Killian, you two have been spending a lot of time together with Operation Mongoose and I can see you two sharing odd looks." Henry spoke in such a matter of fact way, as if only an idiot wouldn't see the growing friendship between his mothers.

"Yes well that may be, but I don't know what Emma thinks of all this." Regina replied, slightly flustered. She was still in shock from Henry's easy acceptance at this turn of events.

Henry pulled his mother into a tight hug and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Pulling back he smiled "Everything will be fine mom, I promise." He assured her before turning and running up the stairs to bed.

Regina stayed leant against the kitchen worktop for quite some time before she forced herself to move towards her study and collect the presents she had stashed in the drawers of her desk. Since she no longer had any mayoral paperwork to keep in there, she might as well make good use of the beautiful antique. Carrying them into the living room to place under the tree, she inspected them each for any tears or shoddy wrapping. She smiled as she looked at the presents she had bought for Henry. After her year without him in the Enchanted Forest, she had decided to spoil him and had possibly gone slightly overboard, but she didn't care. He was, after all, her son. She had even got a few presents for Emma and the Charmings, having never had so many people around her at this time of year she wanted to express her gratitude.

She glanced at the clock as she finished placing Henry's now bulging stocking on the fireplace and was shocked to find that it was almost Christmas day. Walking back into the kitchen to grab her water, she slowly made her way up to her room, pausing only to check in on Henry to make sure he was sound asleep, before collapsing still clothed into bed.

Regina woke up promptly at 6am, a habit that remained from her days as a mayor and mother to a toddler, quickly changed into her pyjamas before Henry brought her breakfast. She could still remember when he was seven and first brought her breakfast in bed, burnt toast with milky tea. She smiled sleepily at the memory as she drifted back to sleep.

The door opened as half past seven and a tray of croissants, pain au chocolat, coffee (hers) and hot chocolate with cinnamon (his) was placed on the bed. Henry climbed up to join her and Regina leaned over to hug her son, careful not to knock over the drinks, and wished him a Merry Christmas. They ate their breakfast in a happy silence and left Regina's room shortly after eight moving down to the living room to watch TV while Henry opened his stocking.

After lounging around on the couch for another hour or so, Regina decided it was time to get dressed and make a start on the Christmas meal for 5 that she'd offered to host. She jumped in the shower quickly and dried off her hair before putting on some slim dark blue jeans and a mint green jumper with a polar bear on it. Henry had bought it for her the last Christmas they'd had before the curse broke. Walking back downstairs she saw Henry completely engrossed in his new _Captain America: The Winter Soldier_ DVD and smiled at the thought of finally having him home for Christmas again.

"Henry don't forget that Emma, your grandparents and uncle will be round here at 12 and I'd rather you didn't open the door in your pyjamas." Henry half-heartedly agreed and bounded up the stairs to change and ran down again moments later buttoning up his shirt and resuming his film.

By the time the doorbell rang 3 hours later, Regina was rushing around in the kitchen trying to make sure nothing burned, and Henry was halfway through the first of many Disney films that would grace the TV screen that day. Full of energy he jumped up and ran to let in the rest of his family, hugging each of them as they stepped through the door.

"Hey kiddo, where's Regina?" Emma asked as she closed the door behind her.

"She's in the kitchen." Henry replied as he bent down to make faces at his uncle. Emma moved towards the kitchen and thrust the sack of present she'd been carrying into her son's hands telling him to put them under the tree.

"We need to talk." Emma said as she stood in the doorway of Regina's kitchen. Regina froze at Emma's voice.

"Yes I imagine we do" she acknowledged turning to look at the blonde. Her eyes wandered over Emma's outfit, the scarlet knee length dress, furry ankle boots with a small heel and lightly curled hair and she caught her breath.

"_You look incredible._" Regina whispered as Emma blushed a shade of red that echoed her dress.

"I'll ask my mom to watch the food if you want to go somewhere more private to talk" Emma offered. Regina nodded and walked out of the kitchen and across the hall to her study, motioning for Emma to follow.

"Mom can you watch the food quickly? Regina and I need to…. Errr…. to make sure we didn't get Henry the same things." Regina rolled her eyes at the lame excuse. As Emma followed Regina she noticed Henry grinning from the lounge doorway. Assuming it was just about his presents she thought nothing of it and walked into the study closing the door behind her.

"Henry knows." Regina blurted out before Emma had even turned to face her.

"Well that explains the look on his face when I said I needed to speak to you." Emma responded as she turned to face the brunette. Both women looked away from each other as one digested this new information and the other wished words would come to her, if only to fill this god-awful silence between them.

"So um, we need to talk about what happened last -" Regina started to speak but was cut off by the sudden softness of Emma's lips meeting her own and completely overpowering them. Stumbling backwards Regina hit her desk and steadied herself, pushing back softly against Emma. "Wait Emma. What are you doing?" Regina asked breathlessly, trying to control the swirl of thoughts and emotions currently racing around her head.

"Regina I've spent my life learning how to read people, and I could see it as soon as I walked into your kitchen, that that kiss meant something to you, just as it did to me and I-" Now it was Emma's babbling that was cut short as Regina covered her lips and cupped her cheeks, pulling Emma's head closer.

Emma was getting a bit too into the kiss, her hands now in Regina's hair clutching the brunette as close as physically possible to her and her tongue teasing the entrance to Regina's lips. Once again Regina gently pushed Emma away and spoke as calmly as she could. "Dear, your parents and our son are in the next room. I think maybe we should get back to them before they come looking for us?" Reluctantly Emma agreed and gave Regina a final peck on the lips. Before she could leave, however, Regina lightly grabbed her wrist, "and maybe we should wait before we spring this on them? It is Christmas after all, and I think there's enough to be dealing with today." Emma nodded and smiled happily at Regina before leaving the study to go and see their son properly.

As Regina followed Emma out, smoothing her hair as she went, she noticed Henry standing over the stove and not his grandmother. "Um Henry? Where is Mary Margaret? We asked her to watch the food…"

"Neal started crying so she went to see to him" Henry responded as he turned to face his mother with a grin on his face. "So did you and Ma sort things out?"

Regina blushed at the abruptness of his words. "Like I'd believe the 'make sure we didn't get Henry the same gifts' excuse. You guys did that weeks ago." Henry added.

"I think we're going to give things a try." At this Henry's face lit up and Regina had to shush her son before he drew attention to himself. "But we've agreed to keep it quiet until after Christmas. So please try to refrain from using that adorable smile of yours." She added giving Henry a hug as she chucked him on the cheek and herded him back into the living room.

Regina could see Mary Margaret standing in the doorway of the living room staring out at her happy little family.

"Didn't I ask you to watch the food, not the family?" Regina asked with a small smile

Mary Margaret ignored the quip and turned to move into the kitchen and join her Step-Mother.

"My son was crying! Have you two sorted it all out now?" Regina stopped with a start before groaning and rolling her eyes in exasperation.

"Not you as well?" she asked.

"Well? Did you two talk?" Regina blushed slightly.

"We didn't so much as talk as… well… kiss." Regina blushed harder, she couldn't believe she was telling Snow White of all people this. And realising how hot her cheeks were, she couldn't believe she was blushing so much about it.

At this point Mary Margaret squealed. An actual proper ear-splitting squeal. Who does that? Regina thought with a wince.

"We still need to discuss what's going to happen between us, but I think we'll do that another day, when I don't have to entertain." Regina hoped that this would put any wondering questions at bay, at least for now. Luckily it worked

"That's fair enough." Mary Margaret replied, and much to Regina's surprise, proceeded to hug her step-mother. "I'm glad you're finally getting your happy ending. You deserve it." And as quickly as she had entered the kitchen, she left, walking back into the living room to make a fuss of her son, leaving a bewildered Regina to get back to cooking Christmas lunch.

An hour and a half later, with some help from David, Christmas lunch had been laid out on the table in all its glory and the rest of the family called to eat. With the goose taking centre stage on the scarlet table cloth, it left little room for the potatoes, the stuffing, the gravy and (much to Henry's disgusted face) the vegetables.

Regina wasn't used to cooking for more than herself and Henry so she overdid the portions slightly. By the end of lunch she had half the table still covered with food to try and get into the freezer. Regina was under strict instructions not to help with the clearing up so she retreated to the living room with Henry and Neal to watch another Disney film (Her choice this time to say thanks for the 'epic Christmas lunch' as Henry put it).

While Mary Margaret headed into the kitchen to start the long task of washing up, David and Emma started stacking the empty plates. "What's going on between you and Regina?" Emma froze.

"What do you mean?" Emma mumbled unconvincingly.

"Emma, you're my daughter. You don't think I can tell when you're acting weird? You rushed off last night after we left you with Regina. It doesn't take a genius to put the pieces together."

Emma smiled. "I don't know what's going on Dad. All I know is that when I think about being with her, I just feel so happy. She makes me happy Dad. She's changed. She's not the Evil Queen anymore."

David put the plates back down on the table and moved to hug his daughter "As long as you're happy. Then that's all that matters." They only broke apart from their hug when Mary Margaret asked what was taking them so long.

When all the dishes had been cleaned and put away and all the leftovers crammed into the freezer, it was time for Henry's favourite part of Christmas. Presents. Henry rushed to place his family around the living room: Regina on the chair by the fireplace; Mary Margaret and David on the couch with baby Neal at their feet; Emma on the chair by the tree and Henry plonked himself down in front of the tree.

After Henry had distributed the presents he tore into his own pile, leaving everyone else to go through their presents at their own pace. Neal sat giggling in his carrier as he watched his nephew tear into each gift with a smile on his face. Soon enough Henry was sat surrounded by shreds of paper and brand new toys, among which were a Harry Potter replica wand, _Clue_ board game and a set of binoculars for Operation Mongoose.

Neal was too young to understand what was going on, or how to open his new presents so he had some help from his parents, nephew and even his sister opened a present for him. He looked to be thoroughly over the moon with his new onesies, toys and even a storybook courtesy of Regina.

Mary Margaret's favourite present was a photo frame with a picture of her, David, Emma and Neal inside. A gift from Henry.

Men have always been notoriously difficult to buy for so David just received the standard gift of socks from his daughter (everyone always needs more socks). This made Regina chuckle when he unwrapped her gift, another pair of socks.

Emma received a new mint green leather jacket with white piping to add to her collection and could hardly fail to notice that it echoed the exact shade of Regina's jumper. This made her smile even larger as she hugged her parents.

As Regina unwrapped her gift from Emma she froze. Lying amongst the tissue paper was a necklace, a simple silver chain with a glass pendant dangling from it. It used to belong to her mother. Her father had given it to her when they'd married and, though Cora couldn't abide sentimentality (Love is weakness), she did admire the colours it emitted as the light hit it.

Without a word Regina got up from her chair and crossed in front of the fireplace to where Emma sat. Bending down she cupped Emma's cheeks with her hands, brought her face up to hers and kissed her. Trying to put what she wanted to say into the kiss, because right now, words failed her.

This time it was Emma who pulled away, remembering that her parents and their son were watching.

"Where on earth did you find it?" Regina asked in disbelief as she stared at Emma, who was now standing sheepishly in front of her.

"It was in Belle's shop. I found it when I was looking for something for my mom, I noticed the name and thought you'd like to have it." Emma spoke mostly into her chest, waiting for Regina to realise that she'd kissed her in front of her parents and their son.

"I thought this was lost when my curse hit." Regina whispered with her hands still cupped around Emma's face.

It was David's cough that finally pulled Regina from her thoughts and made her realise that she and Emma were not alone. Blushing profusely she turned to face the rest of the room, clinging to Emma for support. It was Henry who broke this new found silence with a whoop of joy. This caused Emma to blush too as they both chuckled. "I'm guessing, this makes us official?" Emma asks Regina, a hint of hope reflected in her eyes.

"Yes my dear, I suppose it does." Regina says kissing Emma softly on the lips. Chuckling softly when they heard Neal gurgling his approval.

After all the paper had been collected and crammed into the bin, Henry selected a film for all of them to watch. To no one's surprise he picked out another Disney film. As the opening titles to _Enchanted_ rolled onto the screen and Julie Andrews' voice echoed through the room, everyone settled down around the TV.

Mary Margaret and David had pulled the chair by the tree around to join the other and sat upon those. Henry sat on the floor with an excitable Neal while Regina and Emma were curled up on the couch.

Emma sat between the couch and Regina, with her arms around wrapped snuggly around her chest, clutching her close as though she never wanted to let her go again.

Henry had specifically chosen this film to allow his grandparents and mom to see just how funny and weird it was to the real world when those from the fairy-tale land appeared. He found it hilarious to see David's reaction to Prince Edward and Mary Margaret's reaction to Giselle. To everyone's surprise Regina laughed at the Evil Queen Narissa and her plot to kill Giselle to keep her title, pointing out that at least _she_ had wanted revenge and wasn't just Evil to keep her crown. This earned a nervous giggle from Mary Margaret and a kiss to her cheek from Emma.

As the night moved on, more and more Disney films graced the screen of Regina's TV. When everyone had recovered from the amazing lunch Regina had cooked and were in need of more food, she reluctantly vacated the warmth of Emma's arms and dragged Emma with her into the kitchen to prepare some nibbles. The two of them plated up toast with pate, mini sausage rolls, crisps and (at Regina's insistence) some cut up carrots and cucumber. Stealing kisses as they moved around the kitchen felt like the most natural thing in the world.

Emma poured them both a small glass of wine (both still recovering from the amount they drank the previous night) and wrapped her arms around Regina's waist placing a line of kisses along her jawline making her moan. Once again Regina had to be the adult (though she really didn't want to) and pulled away, cheekily reminding her that her family was in the room next door.

Emma pouted and placed one last kiss to Regina's lips "_Our_ family." She corrected, causing Regina to smile.

Grabbing the plates, Emma moved back into the living room, placing them on the coffee table that held some of the more expensive Christmas presents to be kept out of Neal's reach, and more importantly, his mouth. Regina followed suit with her and Emma's drinks and large glasses of wine for Mary Margaret and David and a glass of coke for Henry.

Emma settled herself back down on the sofa and pulled Regina down to join her. Regina nestled herself against Emma's left side, so they both had hands free for food. But as soon as Emma was done eating she pulled Regina flush against her chest, just as they had been before stomachs started rumbling.

They stayed like this throughout the entirety of _Tangled_ and through half of _Brave_ before Regina started to drift off, the warmth of Emma's arms and the length of the day catching up with her. As the closing credits for _Brave_ rolled up the screen, Regina stirred. Looking up at the clock she realised it was nearly 11 and, although she didn't want this incredible day to be over, Mary Margaret and David had decided that it was time to go home. Neal needed to sleep properly as he was getting cranky and Mary Margaret herself was stifling yawns.

Sitting up and stretching Regina immediately felt the absence of Emma on her back, turning to face her she pressed a kiss to Emma's lips, smiling as she did so. Emma could sense that Regina didn't want her to go, so when Regina's lips left her own she spoke "I'll bring Henry back in the morning and we'll spend the day together, just the three of us."

Regina's smile grew bigger as Emma turned to face their son "how does that sound kiddo? Wanna spend tomorrow with your moms?"

Henry nodded excitedly but added that he didn't want them to spend the whole day kissing. At this Emma promptly turned back to Regina and pulled her in for a kiss, making a face at Henry as they broke apart.

Once all of Neal's presents had been packed into Emma's bug (there simply wasn't room in the truck's cabin for 2 adults, a baby _and_ all his presents) and Neal himself strapped into his car seat, Emma's parents made their way back to the loft to put him to sleep, leaving Emma and Henry to say goodnight to Regina.

"I'm so glad you two have finally sorted things out between you." Henry voiced as he hugged his moms, giving Regina a kiss on the cheek before moving to get into Emma's bug.

"What the kid said" Emma added cheekily, placing a soft kiss to Regina's lips, pulling her by the waist so she was flush against her. This time around it was Regina who thrust her hands into Emma's hair to keep her in place and used her tongue to gain entrance to Emma's mouth.

Minutes passed spent like this until Emma pulled away, resting her forehead against Regina's she spoke "as much as I love this, seriously I could spend all day doing this, I should probably get Henry home to bed." Nodding in agreement Regina caressed Emma's cheek before placing one last kiss to Emma's lips and watching as she made her way to her car.

Regina moved to the kitchen to clear up but decided that it could wait till tomorrow. Smiling to herself she changed out her jumper and jeans and into her pyjamas. Crashing down onto her bed, she was asleep in moments. Her smile still present when her eyes drifted shut.


	2. Christmas 2017

**Here is chapter 2! Sorry for the delayed update, I had planned to get it up before New Year but writers block got in the way (booooo) but anyway here it is!**

**Because I am an absolute idiot/most forgetful person ever I forgot to say thanx to Jess (greendrinkgodess) on tumblr for being my beta! 3**

**~~~12****th**** December 2017~~~**

"Must you do that every year?" Emma asked as she moved over to her wife, who was leaning against the doorframe of their bedroom.

"Well my dear it is tradition. If it wasn't for this mistletoe we wouldn't be where we are today." Regina responded with the same cheeky grin on her face she had worn when her wife had first noticed the decoration.

"I'm pretty sure the alcohol played a bigger part than the mistletoe but I don't see a crate of wine hanging on the w-" Emma was silenced by yet another fierce kiss from Regina, a common occurrence these days.

"Must you do that every year?" Regina threw Emma's own retort back at her with a playful look in her eyes.

"It's tradition." Emma countered with a wink.

"Ma come on, it's time to put the tree up" the two women chuckled as they heard Henry's voice carry up from the living room where he was (supposed to be) waiting patiently to put up the tree.

"You coming?" Emma asked turning back to the foot of the ladder and picking up the box with the Christmas tree. Regina nodded and picked up the two boxes full of decorations and followed her girlfriend down the stairs to their son.

As the two of them entered the living room they saw Henry fiddling with the stereo, trying to play the Christmas playlist he had put together for exactly this occasion. Placing the boxes in front of the fireplace Emma pulled Regina into her arms to kiss her, but as their lips touched Henry chose that exact moment to blast out _Slade's 'Merry Christmas'_ causing them to start. They pulled apart to glare at Henry, who was in fits of giggles by the stereo. Whilst Regina was grinning at their son Emma quickly pulled her back into her arms and surprised her with a kiss to her nose making her giggle.

"Ok let's get this tree up!" Emma said clapping her hands as she let Regina go, who was in a state of shock from the kiss Emma just gave her.

"Did you just kiss my nose?" Regina asked, a hint of disbelief in her voice.

Emma simply flashed a cheeky grin over her shoulder. Regina responded by grabbing Emma by the arm and turning her around sharply to kiss the tip of her nose. "How do you like it?"

Emma scrunched up her nose but Regina could see that she liked it very much. Regina herself had been a little taken aback by the nose kiss but thinking about it now she thought that she too liked it. Before the pair could continue kissing though, Henry coughed.

"Can we _please_ start putting up the tree?" Henry stressed the 'please' in such a way that, at the age of 16, he shouldn't really be doing. Regina tutted as she told Henry to stop whining and handed him the base for the tree.

Last Christmas Regina had finally agreed that the forest green tree, bought when she first arrived in Storybrooke, had given up the ghost when they'd taken it down and found more 'pine needles' on the floor than on the branches. So, in the Christmas sale they'd bought a new tree. A snow white one. And yes, they all saw the irony that was partly the reason they bought it.

Emptying out all the branches from the box, Emma was tasked with sorting them into which layer of the tree they went with. Regina was told that, as she was the most beautiful amongst them, she should find the most beautiful decorations to cover the tree. Regina silently disagreed with Emma's view but blushed nonetheless.

As Emma handed the branches to Henry she hummed along to _I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday. _Regina, unwrapping the baubles, snowflakes and all the other little decorations that filled the tree, smiled as she watched her girlfriends head bop up and down to the beat. The tree slowly took shape (and height) Emma pulled the top of the tree out of the box and laid it to rest on the floor while she added the rest of the branches to the stand.

Regina had finished choosing the decorations to place on the tree and had covered the coffee table in them as the stereo faded _Wizzard _out and _All I Want for Christmas Is You _took its place. To Regina's delight Emma grabbed her hand and pulled her into a slow dance singing softly under her breath.

"Get a room" Henry groaned as he watched his love-sick moms dancing cocooned in each other's arms. The two women ignored his jibes and continued to dance, foreheads pressed together, small smiles curling their lips upwards. Giving up Henry sighed. "Hey Mom, where's the hot chocolate?" It had become tradition to have hot chocolate (with cinnamon of course) whilst they put up the tree. Reluctantly pulling away from her girlfriend, Regina placed a kiss on Emma's nose and moved into the kitchen to make the drinks.

"Ok Ma time to get serious. When are you gonna pop the question?" Henry's voice moved to a whisper as he and Emma started wrapping the ice blue lights around the tree. Emma stopped with a start. Turning to face her son she looked toward the doorway making sure Regina wasn't on her way back and reached into her pocket to pull out a navy blue velvet box. Sneaking another glance towards the kitchen, she opened it. Henry let out and audible gasp and Emma quickly shushed him. Inside the box lay a sterling silver ring. It split into an infinity sign, with a midnight blue sapphire heart in the middle and three smaller round cut diamonds around it. It wasn't extravagant, but it was by no means simple and it took Henry's breath away.

"I've had this ring for a week but I'm waiting for the right time to do it." Emma whispered as she put the box back in her pocket.

"Come on Ma. It doesn't matter about the _time_, it's _how_ you do it that really counts." Henry countered. Emma hummed her agreement but before she could say anymore, Regina returned with 3 mugs of hot chocolate balanced on a tray.

Placing the tray on the table Regina looked at the lights that hung haphazardly on the tree. "Emma. Those look terrible." Emma stuck out her tongue and reached down for a mug of hot chocolate, while Regina moved to reposition the lights so they were distributed more evenly throughout the branches. She had always been a perfectionist and just couldn't stand the thought of the uneven lights being switched on.

It was one of the many things Emma loved about her.

Once Regina was satisfied with the lights she grabbed the last mug and sat on the sofa to take a break. When all the chocolate had been drunk the three of them started to gather up the decorations that Regina had set out. With Henry at the bottom of the tree, Regina in the middle and Emma at the top of the step ladder, they began to decorate the tree.

Regina hummed along to the tune of _Fairytale of New York _as it blasted through the speakers and Emma could only watch and chuckle as her girlfriend attempted to sing along. I could spend the rest of my life with this woman, she thought and smiled absentmindedly. Regina looked up and saw her smile, "What's with the smile Swan?"

"Did I ever tell you how perfect you are?"

Regina blushed, and stood on her tiptoes to press a kiss to Emma's lips. "Only everyday dear."

"Well that may be but I don't believe I've told you today." Emma countered with a grin on her face as she lent down to capture Regina's lips once more, causing Henry to groan. Although Henry loved having his moms together, he could do without the constant PDA.

When all but the star had been put on the tree, Emma stepped down from the ladder and let Henry climb up, handing him the star as he did. It had been a tradition in the Mills household to let the youngest put the star on top of the tree. When Henry was little Regina simply moved his hand in her own to place the star on top, but ever since he had turned three Henry had insisted he was big enough to do it himself. Regina got teary-eyed just thinking about her little prince all grown up.

When the star had been placed atop the tree, all three of them stood back to admire their handiwork. In just under an hour they'd created the most beautiful tree that any of them had ever seen. The ice blue lights lit up the tree perfectly, hitting the mix of silver, blue and white decorations, and causing the colours to bounce across the room. Emma sighed and wrapped her arm around Regina's waist. She nodded at Henry and patted her pocket containing the ring. It was time.

"Ok well, umm, now that that's done, I'm uh, I've got some homework to do." Emma rolled her eyes at Henry's lame excuse and waved him upstairs out of the way.

Emma giggled as she moved round to hug Regina from behind placing her chin on her shoulder as she hugged her middle flush to her. "What shall we do now Miss Mills?" Emma whispered into Regina's ear.

"Well Miss Swan, I don't know about you but I just want to sit and relax. I've had a busy week." Regina responded, leaning back into Emma's embrace.

At this Emma pulled Regina backwards onto the couch, causing Regina to squeal. Giggling as she settled herself so she was upright, she felt a sudden loss of heat as Emma moved off the couch.

"I'm gonna fix you a glass of wine." Emma said as she placed a kiss to Regina's nose and moved towards the kitchen. In reality is was Emma who needed a drink to steady her nerves, this was a huge step she was about to take. Walking into the kitchen she got a bottle of red out of the larder and two glasses out of the cupboard. Pulling out the cork she let the wine breathe for a minute and took a few deep breaths herself to try and calm the flood of thoughts that was swirling in her mind. She poured the glasses and took a large gulp out of hers before heading back into the living room.

Handing Regina her glass, Emma sat next to her and scooped up her feet to rest on her lap. Regina sighed contently and Emma took another deep breath.

"Regina, do you ever think about the future?" Emma didn't give Regina time to answer before she carried on, "Because, well we've been together for 3 years now and I couldn't be happier and I'm assuming you're happy too, you've never said otherwise." Emma said the last part with a hint of worry in her voice but continued, "Anyway, what I'm trying to say is, well, umm, I love you so much and, well-" Emma didn't get a chance to continue her babbling as Regina pulled her close and pressed her lips to Emma's in a gentle kiss.

"Emma, What is it?" she asked, slightly worried, when she pulled back.

Emma takes another deep breath and looked up at Regina through her lashes. "Will you marry me?" Regina's eyes widened as she took the information in. Emma bites her lip as she waited for a response. As Regina's silence continued, however, she feared the worst. Emma got up to leave, mumbling as she went, "I, umm, I'm gonna go then."

Regina grabbed her arm, pulled her back down to the couch and hugged her close. "Emma stop, of course I'll marry you"

Emma's lips curled up into the biggest smile possible and she leant forward to kiss her new fiancé. Regina's hand reached around the back of Emma's neck as she pulled the blonde even closer to her. Soon Emma pulled away, catching her breath as she spoke,

"Wait, don't you want to see the ring?"

Regina nodded as she bit her lip in anticipation. Emma pulled the box out of her pocket and opened it to reveal the ring, holding her breath as she did and praying that Regina would like it.

Emma looked up to find tears in Regina's eyes. Panicking she dipped her head into her chest and started to speak. "If you don't like it I can exchange it for another one, maybe one with more jewels or something, but I thought you'd like that one."

Regina shook her head as Emma spoke and silenced her fiancé with a finger to her lips. "Emma it's beautiful." She pulled the ring out of the box and looked at Emma, "Do I have to put it on myself?"

Grinning Emma took the ring from Regina and places it on her finger, kissing it gently. She then pulled Regina to her chest as she leans back against the couch so their legs were intertwined, and kissed the top of her head.

"I love you so much."

"I love you too" Regina responded as she admired the ring that now sat on her left hand.

They stayed like this for some time, neither of them wanting to move, neither had any place to be other than wrapped in each other's arms. Henry thumped down the stairs sometime after it had gone dark outside and saw them curled up on the couch together. "Have you guys not moved since I left you guys 3 hours ago?"

Stretching Emma's brow furrowed. "Has it been 3 hours? Wow! I guess we were just too comfortable to move" kissing Regina's head as she got up to throw an arm around Henry's shoulder, she asked, "What do you wanna do for tea kiddo?"

"Ma, I'm 16 when are you gonna stop calling me 'kiddo'"

Emma feigned thinking and simply answered "Never, you will always be the 10 year old knocking on my door." She kissed his head for good measure as Henry squirmed and tried to get away.

"Ok you two. I swear sometimes it's like I have two teenagers in this house and not one." Regina said as she stretched and stood up to join her family.

Faking being hurt Emma placed a hand on her chest and gasped "that is no way to talk to your fiancé, Miss Mills."

Henry did a double take at the word 'fiancé' and looked between the smiles on his moms faces and then looked at Regina's left hand.

He immediately jumped on his mom to hug her while Emma watched with a mixture of content and pride on her face. "She finally asked you! Oh my god this is so exciting! I'm so happy for you two! We're gonna be a real family now, I mean it's going to be official! Have you told Grandma and Grandpa yet?"

Regina and Emma giggled as they watched their son babble. "Slow down Henry, we haven't told anyone yet, she only proposed 3 hours ago."

"And I think we'll keep it that way for a bit" Emma continued, much to the surprise of her son and fiancé "I quite like the idea of only our little family knowing, we'll tell mom and dad when we're ready, ok?" Emma said checking with Regina as she spoke.

Regina had a soft smile as she nodded "I think that's a lovely idea Emma." Moving over to place a soft kiss to Emma's lips.

"Ok then. On the subject of tea, I vote pizza." Henry spoke, interrupting his moms kissing and causing them to giggle again.

"Ok kiddo, I'll get the phone and you can pick something to watch, I think this evening should be a lazy one." Emma suggested as she kissed Regina's nose once more and moved to the hallway to pick up the phone.

Regina sighed contently as she watched Emma bounce into the hallway and hugged her son once again. "So, what do you want to watch tonight?" Regina asked as she squeezed her son's shoulder.

When Emma came back into the room having ordered the usual (1 large meat eaters pizza, 1 medium Texas BBQ and a large side of garlic bread) she found her son and fiancé sat on the couch with the opening titles for _The Parent Trap _filling the screen.

By the time the pizzas had arrived, Emma had poured Regina and herself more wine and brought through a bottle of coke out of the fridge for Henry. With Emma in the middle of the couch she had one arm wrapped around Regina while the other was dipping her 4th slice of Texas BBQ in garlic mayo. Regina herself had called it quits after her 3rd slice and was currently snuggled up to Emma's chest, threatening her with sleeping on the couch if she dropped food on her. Henry sat in the corner of the couch, legs crossed so he didn't intrude on his moms, munching his way through the large meat eaters he insisted he could eat all by himself (Emma usually ended up polishing off the slices he left behind).

Regina smiled to herself, thinking about how much her life had changed since Emma broke her curse. She fell asleep with the smile still on her lips and her head on Emma's chest.

**~~~Christmas Eve 2017~~~**

"Henry have you seen my heels?" Regina shouted as she rushed about the house in search of her midnight blue stilettoes that went perfectly with the dress she had planned on wearing.

"Mom, why would I know where your heels are?" Henry yelled from his room. "Have you looked in your shoe closet?" he added, Regina could hear the smile in his voice.

"Yes Henry, believe I or not it was the first place I looked." Regina remarked as she opened the door to Henry's room, "Have you heard from Emma? If she doesn't hurry up we're going to be late, and you know how your grandma worries."

"She's on her way, she just had to stop to pick something up, but she should be here by now." Regina was about to respond when she heard the door open downstairs as her fiancé finally entered the house.

Regina practically bounced down the stairs to greet her fiancé, much to the amusement of Emma. Once Regina had reached the bottom of the stairs, Emma pulled her into her arms and placed a gentle kiss to her lips, knowing that she only had half an hour to get ready for her parents annual Christmas Eve party. Regina carefully extracted herself from Emma's arms and spoke, "Dear, have you seen my heels? My midnight blue ones, I wanted to wear them tonight but I can't seem to find them." She pouted as she finished speaking and Emma giggled as she reached into her bag pulling out the very same heels Regina had spent the past half hour looking for.

"I noticed the heels were looking a bit worn and I didn't want my fiancé to fall and hurt herself so I got them re-heeled." Emma opened her mouth again to say something else but was silenced by Regina's mouth covering her own as she kissed her gratitude.

When Regina eventually pulled away, they did have a party to get to after all, she kissed the tip of Emma's nose and they moved up the stairs to finish getting ready, Emma stuck her head into Henry's room to say hi but then swiftly moved to follow Regina into their bedroom to change.

Regina pulled her dress out of the closet and laid it on the bed whilst she changed out of her smart suit (She had come to an agreement with Mary Margaret whereby Regina would remain Mayor. Having already spent 28 years behind the desk, she knew how best to run the town). Emma had been talked into wearing a dress, rather than her usual get ups of jeans and a see-through top (Regina thought a dress would be better suited for a social gathering), so she flicked through the tiny amount of dresses she owned before Regina picked one out for her.

Once both women had chosen their dresses, Regina sat in front of her vanity to do her hair and makeup while Emma took control of their ensuite. Emma simply didn't have the time to curl her hair, and she felt she needed something more elegant than a ponytail so she did a simple French braid, a small token to her friend from Arendelle, she also applied some mint green eyeshadow and a pale pink lipstick. The look defined her natural features whilst staying simple and unobtrusive.

After Emma was satisfied with her hair and makeup she pulled on her dress. It was a mint green knee length dress with a square neckline and a box pleat skirt, slightly darker than the accompanying makeup. It was sleeveless so she had pulled her cropped black cardigan out of her drawer to keep her arms warm. After she had zipped up her fur trimmed ankle boots she moved back into the bedroom to wait for Regina.

Regina had opted for straight hair and simple eye makeup (she had left her big bold eye style back in the Enchanted Forest) and by the time Emma came out of the bathroom and lay down on the bed, she was halfway through straightening her hair and had applied her eyeliner, mascara and lipstick (a deep shade of burgundy).

"You're staring dear." Regina observed as she spoke to her mirror.

"Well can you blame me for wanting to look at the most beautiful woman I have ever seen twenty-four seven?" Emma explained with a cheeky grin playing upon her lips.

"Well if you're just sat staring, you can go and see if Henry is ready." Regina retorted as she finished straightening her hair. Emma got up off the bed and placed a kiss to the exposed part of Regina's neck as she moved to check on their son.

Knocking on Henry's door Emma waited for permission to enter before pushing the door open to see her son putting on his dress shoes to go with his smart black jeans, white dress shirt and black waistcoat. "Ma you're staring." Henry observed as he could feel his blonde mother's eyes on him.

"Am I not allowed to stare at my family? You are your mom are looking even more handsome tonight, am I not allowed to notice?" Emma responded with an essence of hurt in her voice as she bent down to kiss the top of Henry's head, "Your mom wants to leave in 5 minutes. So make sure you're ready."

"Got it Ma." Henry said as his mom closed his door and moved back to her room.

Opening the door Emma caught her breath. Standing before her, looking slightly nervous, was Regina in a knee length midnight blue lacy pencil dress with a slit that ran halfway up her thigh, standing tall in her stilettoes. "How do I look?" She asked with hesitation in her voice.

"You look absolutely gorgeous!" Emma whispered under her breath, still taking in the beauty of her fiancé. Regina blushed and fiddled with her engagement ring.

"Do you think it's time to tell your parents yet?" She asked nervously.

"How about you wear the ring, and if they notice, they notice. If not we'll tell them tomorrow?" Emma suggested as she wrapped her arms around Regina's waist and pulled her flush against her, placing a kiss to her nose. Regina nodded as she picked up her black shawl and handed Emma her forest green leather jacket.

"Come on or we will actually be late." Regina remarked as she picked up her car keys (she avoided Emma's bug at all costs and besides it was getting too small for all three of them) and moved down the landing to collect their son.

As Regina pulled the car to a stop outside of the Charming's apartment, she took a deep breath and fiddled with her ring once again. Even after 3 years, she still feared being rejected by the family she had grown to love. Emma could see her fiancé's nerves and placed her hand over Regina's, calming the fingers fiddling with her ring.

"It's going to be fine love. I promise." Emma spoke as she leaned over to kiss Regina's cheek, eliciting a smile from the brunette.

The three of them climbed out of the car, walked up the stairs to the apartment and knocked on the door. David opened the door and hugged his daughter first, even though he had seen her at the station less than an hour ago, but not having your daughter for 28 years does take its toll.

"Auntie Gina" there was a sound of tiny legs running towards the door and soon enough the tiny body of Neal crashed into Regina's legs, causing her to teeter on her heels. Even though Regina was closer to a sister than an Auntie, Mary Margaret and David had never managed to break the habit. "How many times have we told you Neal, Don't go running off like that." Mary Margaret said, appearing at David's side and giving Emma a hug.

Neal giggled as Regina bent down to scoop him up and sat him on her hip. "Come on Neal, apologise to your mother. Or I'll get the tickle monster" Regina threatened, though the threat lost some of its bite when given with a smile.

"Sorry mommy" Neal drawled, earning him a kiss on the cheek from his 'auntie'.

Mary Margaret kissed the top of her son's head and then gave Regina a hug, three years in and Regina still wasn't used to getting hugs from her step-daughter.

Neal started wriggling in Regina's arms and was handed to his sister so he could plant a sloppy kiss on her cheek before being let loose in the apartment with Henry, who had decided he was going to be a dragon and chase his uncle.

Mary Margaret led her daughter and Regina into the kitchen while David closed the door. "What do you want to drink?" she asked as Regina and Emma shrugged off their jackets.

"I'll just have a coke, if you want me to drive us home." Emma replied and Regina nodded asking for a red wine. Emma took their jackets and hung them up on the door, Neal colliding with her legs as she returned causing Emma to limp back to her mom and fiancé.

"Hey what happened?" Regina questioned, wrapping an arm around Emma's waist and handing her a drink.

"Tiny missile by the name of Neal. He appears to be looking for a hiding place from Henry the dragon." She explained giving Regina a kiss on the cheek.

As the night moved on the two ladies mingled with the rest of the party, chased Neal and Henry and ate many a mince pie and sausage roll. Soon it was past 10 and the guests had all left and, even though Neal insisted he wasn't tired (rubbing his eyes and yawning at the same time), it was time for Neal to head to bed. He was escorted upstairs by David, Emma and Henry (the latter at Neal's insistence), leaving Regina and Mary Margaret to clean up in the kitchen.

Mary Margaret started on the washing up while Regina collected all the stray glasses that had made their way around the apartment.

"You don't have to help Regina" Mary Margaret said, to which Regina responded that she was quite happy to help.

As Regina dried the glasses she admired the way her ring caught the light, stopping every now and then just to tilt her hand and watch light bounce off the jewels. She must have stopped for a little too long as there was a splash from beside her as Mary Margaret dropped a plate into the sink causing bubbles to land on Regina. Mary Margaret grabbed Regina's hand and squealed.

"Oh my god Regina! When did she ask you? Was it romantic? Have you set a date yet?"

Taken aback Regina stood in shock for a few moments before answering the multitude of questions, "ummm, a week and a half ago, yes very and no not yet." Mary Margaret squealed again and pulled her step-mother into a hug.

"Tell me everything about the proposal"

"Well it was quite simple really, we'd just finished putting up the tree and were relaxing with some wine, and Emma started babbling about our future and what comes next and then she just asked me. And I said yes." She added this last part with a gleeful look on her face, biting her lip when she finished.

As Mary Margaret pulled Regina into another hug, David, Emma and Henry came back down the stairs that now led to Neal's room. Emma and Henry knew immediately what had happened, which left a very confused David to ask what was going on. Blushing Regina pulled away from Mary Margaret and held up her left hand. David looked between her and Emma (who had the biggest grin ever plastered across her face) and back again and then proceeded to hug Regina.

"When did this happen?" David asked as he hugged his daughter too.

"12 days ago Dad, took you long enough to notice" Emma replied, grinning at Regina over her Dad's shoulder. When David let go of his daughter she moved to hug her mom who was still admiring Regina's ring.

"Emma this ring is beautiful. It's simple and gorgeous. But you could've asked me for my engagement ring, true love follows that ring wherever it goes."

"I know mom but I wanted something new for Regina, our own heirloom for Henry, something he can give his true love one day." Emma answered her mother, making Regina smile in the process, she hadn't realised how much thought Emma had put into this. Mary Margaret squealed again as she watched her daughter and future daughter-in-law hug, making them chuckle in the process.

"I think we should be heading back home, after the effort and blackmailing it took to get Neal to sleep I'd hate for him to wake up hearing all the squealing." Emma joked as she moved to the door to collect their jackets, handing them to Henry and Regina after she had pulled on hers. "What time are you three coming over tomorrow?" she continued.

"We thought maybe 12?" Mary Margaret responds giving her grandson a hug before hugging Regina yet again. Nodding, Emma hugged both of her parents and opened the door for her family, following them down the stairs and out to the car.

"Did you really think about this ring being an heirloom for Henry one day?" Regina questioned while she fiddled with said ring.

Emma was driving so she couldn't turn to look directly at Regina but from the corner of her eye she could see Regina biting her lip and holding back tears.

When they pulled up outside their house Emma handed Henry her keys and told him to let himself in, reassuring him that they'd be in soon.

Emma unclipped her seatbelt and turned to face her fiancé. "What's wrong hun?"

"I don't deserve you." Regina whispered as she turned to face Emma with tears in her eyes.

"I tried to kill you and your entire family. I cast a curse that devastated thousands of lives. I was the Evil Queen and I was proud of it. I killed hundreds of people back in the Enchanted Forest and I don't know half of their names." Regina's voice broke as she said all of this, looking down at her lap and twisting her ring.

Emma pulled Regina into a somewhat awkward hug and held her close as she reassured her fiancé. "Regina, you've changed. You're not the Evil Queen anymore. You regret taking those lives but at the same time you don't, because if you didn't you wouldn't be here with Henry or with me. We both love you, my parents love you, and just look at how much my brother loves you! I don't care about your past, all I care about is _our_ future."

A single tear escaped Regina's eye and was caught by Emma's thumb as her hand caressed her cheek. Emma turned Regina's face towards her and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. Regina's hand wrapped around the base of Emma's neck and pulled her closer, opening her mouth to deepen the kiss allowing Emma's tongue to probe her mouth. Regina moaned and, reluctantly, pulled away from Emma, "Dear as much as I'm enjoying this, I do believe we'd be better off continuing this inside." She whispered with a mischievous look in her eyes.

Emma's eyes reflected this look as she opened her door and moved around the car to open Regina's door as well, giggling as they walked up to their door and up to their room.

**~~~Christmas Day 2017~~~**

When Regina woke up the next morning she found her arms wrapped around the waist of her fiancé and their legs intertwined. Smiling she kissed Emma's forehead, causing her to sigh. Emma rubbed her eyes like a small child and glanced sleepily at the clock. "Regina its half 8, Henry won't be in for another hour, why are you awake?" Emma groaned as she hid her face under the duvet, trying to block out the light streaming in from the window that had woken up Regina.

Regina grinned as she placed a kiss to an exposed part of Emma's neck eliciting a moan from the blonde as she turned and pulled Regina under the cover to join her.

An hour later there was a knock on the door and a sleepy Henry asking if his moms were decent. Giggling Emma told him he could come in and Henry entered with the usual Christmas breakfast laid out on his tray. Henry placed the tray on the chest that sat at the end of the bed and climbed onto the bed to settle in-between Emma and Regina, once settled his moms attacked him with kisses and started tickling him causing him to squeal and wriggle away. "Staaaaahp, stahp it!" Henry squealed breathlessly as he tried to wriggle away from tickling fingers. Henry's feet were dangerously close to knocking over the mugs of hot chocolate so his moms withdrew their hands and pulled him up so he was once again sat in-between them.

"If you two aren't careful I'll give your gifts to someone else." Henry said feigning hurt as he reached down for a mug and a croissant.

"Ok kid we're sorry" Emma apologised as she reached for the last 2 mugs, passing one back to Regina as she pulled the plate of croissants and pain au chocolat back with her across the bed to rest on her lap.

The three sat there eating and drinking happily until Henry decided that it was time to open his stocking. At this point Emma froze. They had completely forgotten about Henry's stocking last night. Henry bounded down the stairs and Emma turned, panicked, to face Regina who was surprisingly calm. "Umm why aren't you freaking out? We forgot to put up Henry's stocking."

"Oh did we dear?" Regina replied with a smirk. "I realised when I first woke up this morning that we forgot to do it so I just used a bit of magic and voila! Presents in stocking."

Emma pulled Regina close to her and kissed her gently, pressing her forehead to Regina's when she pulled away "Merry Christmas beautiful" she whispered.

Taking Emma's hand Regina led them downstairs to find Henry pulling on a pair of woollen Rudolph socks that had been in his stocking, bursting out laughing when he realised that they played _Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer _when he pressed the nose. Regina looked exasperatedly at Emma who was tapping her feet in time to the song.

"I am going to regret letting you get him those aren't I?" Emma stuck her tongue out and kissed Regina's nose, "Come on its Christmas" she teased as she pulled her into the living room to watch Henry open the rest of his stocking.

After Henry had cleared away his wrapping paper he stuck on the latest Disney Blu-ray (Henry had insisted on making the change to Blu-ray after watching Age of Ultron) and joined his moms on the couch. Regina begrudgingly pulled away from Emma and Henry as the film drew to a close noticing that the time was approaching 10 and, if they wanted to eat lunch, she'd need to start getting things ready.

Regina had insisted that Emma could stay where she was "I'm just going to jump in the shower and get the lunch started, you don't need to help with that." But Emma had followed her anyway muttering something about _sharing water_ as she wrapped her arms around Regina's waist.

More time than Regina wanted had passed by the time she came downstairs. Slightly flustered she preheated the oven, turned on the radio and got the duck out of the fridge. Humming to herself she started the mammoth task of Christmas lunch.

Emma wandered down the stairs shortly after but she knew better than to get in Regina's way and she was completely useless in the kitchen, so she simply got the table ready to seat 6. She straightened out their Christmas tablecloth (silver with blue snowflakes), laid out the mats and then all but emptied the box of 'Merry Christmas' sequins over the table. Emma got the glasses, china and cutlery out of the cupboard and left a space in the line of chairs for Neal's highchair to go. When she was satisfied with her work she walked into the living room and jumped over the back of the couch to sit with Henry as he was watching yet another Disney film.

"Kid I think it's time you get dressed. You've got a little under an hour before your uncle is gonna run amuck in here."

"Well since I will be chasing a 3-year old I think I should be as comfortable as possible" Henry cheeked, trying to get permission to stay in his pyjamas all day.

"No dice kid. You know your grandma will want to take a nice family photo of _everyone_ looking their best."

So when Mary Margaret, David and Neal showed up at 12 on the dot and Emma opened the door, Henry was standing by in his best clothes to chase a giggling Neal.

"Hey kid, watch out for the cabinets" Emma shouted in futile after the boys as they ran off into the living room. Sighing she turned to greet her parents gave them both hugs and motioned them into the living room, before closing the door behind them. David placed their presents under the tree and then moved into the kitchen to help Regina with lunch, just like he did every year, leaving Emma and her mother to relax in the living room.

"Merry Christmas Regina, do you need me to do anything?" David asked as he entered the kitchen. "Oh hi David, Merry Christmas to you too. I think I'm good for now but in about 20 minutes the potatoes will need to go in the oven." Regina replied as she turned to check the timer on the oven. "Can I get you a drink?" she added as she took a sip of wine from her glass.

David nodded and Regina poured him a glass of wine and asked him what time Neal woke them up this year. "Well he was jumping on our bed at 3am, saying that Santa had been, but we told him it was too early to get up so I took him back to his room and read him Dr Seuss until he fell asleep again." David chuckled as he explained this, adding that Neal woke up again at 6 and that this time he had given in to his excited toddler, letting him open his stocking.

The next 20 minutes were spent with the pair discussing Neal and Henry's childhoods, discovering that the two are surprisingly similar in the way they've grown up. When the potatoes were put in the oven, Regina set a timer to add the vegetables and the two of them moved into the living room.

Regina sat next to Emma on the couch and the blonde pulled her into a hug and kissed her nose. "I'm huuuuunnngrrryyy" Emma whined playfully.

"Well my dear, you've got about half an hour more to wait." Regina chuckled as Emma crossed her arms in a huff.

Within minutes of David and Regina sitting down Neal ran into the room and jump on Regina, wriggling between her and Emma to hide from Henry, who today, was being a lion, attempting to eat him.

"Steady on little bro." Emma said as she hoisted Neal onto her shoulders out of Henrys reach. "Come on! I know the best place to hide from Lions." She added, jumping up from the couch and running out of the room with a hysterical Neal on her shoulders.

"Emma be careful of the doorways" Mary Margaret shouted after her giggling children as they disappeared upstairs.

"Regina, it's so good to see you so happy." Regina blushed as Mary Margaret paid her the compliment. She had been grinning as she watched her fiancé run off with Neal on her shoulders and Henry in tow. "I told you, you'd get your happy ending. All you needed was hope."

"I owe you another quarter then." She replied as the buzzer went off and she moved back into the kitchen to add the vegetables to the pan of water on the hob.

Half an hour later Regina and David had placed the food in the centre of the glittery table and Mary Margaret had gone off in search of Emma, Neal and Henry. She returned a few moments later followed by a slightly dusty trio of grinning faces. Emma plonked her brother into his highchair and kissed Regina on the cheek as she moved to take her seat at the table.

Neal had insisted on being sat next to his auntie Gina and he was being picky about eating his food so Regina had taken it upon herself to feed him. Scooping up a forkful of duck and potato she held it in front of the little prince.

"If you don't eat all your food, you won't grow up all big and strong like the rest of your family" Neal gasped at this and opened his mouth as wide as he could to eat his lunch, chewing eagerly and opening his mouth when he was done for another bite.

Regina alternated feeding herself and feeding Neal and soon enough Neal's plate was empty and he was itching to get down and play.

"Sweetie it's polite to wait for everyone to finish eating and then you can play" Mary Margaret told her child as she took a sip of her wine. So Neal stayed seated, swinging his legs while he waited for everyone to finish, gabbling happily to Henry about what he had received from Santa.

When Mary Margaret had finished eating she nodded at Regina who let Neal out of his chair to be chased by Henry again. As Emma and Mary Margaret cleared away the plates, Regina and David followed the boys into the living room and made sure they didn't peek at any of the presents under the tree. Neal grew impatient at having to wait to open what Santa had brought him so Regina sent him into the kitchen to help clear up, his idea of help, however, was a little different to Regina's.

He thought he was being helpful by running around the kitchen singing, "Hurry up, hurry up, huuurrrrry uuuuup!" His mother and sister found it too adorable and quickly finished scrubbing at the duck pan and putting the plates away.

Soon enough Henry and Neal had everyone seated around the tree, presents dished out and were diving into their own gifts before the adults had realised what was going on. Neal squealed adorably as he unwrapped his new teddy bear from his big sister, his Iron Man onesie from Regina and half a dozen new toys from Santa and his parents.

Henry all but screamed when he opened the new laptop that his moms bought him, jumping up to hug them in the process, Regina wincing as the new computer hit the floor with a resounding _thud_.

Mary Margaret received a pastel pink wooly jumper with blue snowflakes on it from Emma and Regina, a bird feeder kit from her grandson and her husband got her a china tea set identical to the one she had before the curse hit.

David got a miniature foosball table (for ease of transport between work and home) from Emma and Regina and a DVD of _Monty Pythons Holy Grail_ from Mary Margaret, which Emma found highly amusing.

Henry (being the charming nephew that he is) gave Neal a wooden sword and shield so they could have proper sword fights, much to the amusement of Emma and Mary Margaret's uneasy looks of disapproval. Henry also gave his mom's a voucher for a spa day in Boston which earned him an enveloping hug from both of them.

Emma received a deep purple leather jacket with black cuffs from Regina (because you can never have enough leather jackets) and she also got some lovely chocolates and a penguin onesie from her parents (she _did_ ask for it), much to the distaste of her fiancé.

Regina opened a navy blue scarf with red kisses over it and a posh bath set with bombs, creams and moisturisers from her fiancé and held her breath as she also opened a necklace with the family crest on it from Mary Margaret and David. "We've been looking for that for the past 3 years, Belle finally found it in Mr Gold's basement. We wanted you to have it because you're now a part of this family." David explained as Emma looked over Regina's shoulder to see what had made her so speechless.

"I can't accept this, it's too much." Regina said with a lump in her throat. "You have no idea how much this means to me. To be considered a part of your family, especially after having spent so long trying to kill you." She added this last part jokingly, trying to hold back the tears threatening to fall.

Mary Margaret simply got up to hug Regina and told her that she had always been a part of the family. Regina wiped the tears from her eyes and laughed when she noticed that Neal had disappeared underneath a pile of festive paper.

Once Neal had been extricated from the mountain of paper he'd buried himself under, all the rubbish was put in the bin and a pan full of milk put on the stove ready for hot chocolate and films. Neal had grown a little restless from all the excitement of the day and was curled up on his mother's lap in his new Iron Man onesie, clutching his bear, with his thumb in his mouth. He was asleep before Rapunzel had even met Flynn Ryder and, as the rest of _Tangled_ played out, he snored softly.

As the film drew to a close, Neal started to stir and shot up with a start when he looked out of the window and saw that it was snowing.

"Mommy look it's snowing!" Bounding off of Mary Margaret's lap he ran to the window to get a proper look. "Can we go outside?" he looked imploringly at his parents.

When everyone was suitably wrapped up against the cold Neal and Henry dashed outside into the winter wonderland Regina's garden had become, with the adults following close behing. Emma darted ahead of her fiancé to help the boys who had started to gather snow to create a snowman. She stopped suddenly when she felt something hit her square in the back, turning she saw Regina giggling as she bent down to pick up another handful of snow.

"Madame Mayor, I do believe that's assault. It's unwise to attempt such a thing with _both_ Sherriff's present." Emma responded as she retrieved her own handful of snow.

Sticking out her tongue Regina threw her handful of snow at Emma and ducked as her fiancé retaliated. "It worries me that the Sherriff has such terrible aim." Regina baited as Emma's snowball hit her father's arm.

Emma pouted as she replied "You ducked! It's not my fault!" gasping as another snowball hit her, this time thrown by her father.

"This means war, come on kiddo help your ma out" Emma shouted as she grabbed another handful of snow, Henry laughed and picked up a handful too.

The snowball fight continued for quite some time with some well-aimed shots from Mary Margaret hitting her husband and daughter. The fight only ended when everyone was soaked through and they started shivering. As they trugged back inside Emma pulled off her coat and went to fix more hot chocolate. Having put the milk on the stove she returned to the hallway to find her parents trying to persuade Neal to let go of the banister. "I don't want to goooooo!" He wailed as Henry struggled to repress his laughter.

"But Neal, sweetie, we need to get you a change of clothes, otherwise you'll get sick. You can't stay in those wet clothes." Mary Margaret explained, crouching down to Neal's height.

"But I'm not done playing." Neal sobbed, hugging the banister tighter.

Emma looked at her little brother clinging to the banister and her son who was still trying to hold in his laughter and felt a lightbulb go on in her head. "Hey little bro, what if Henry came to stay with you tonight? Then you could carry on playing."

Neal's face lit up at this, as did Henry's. Mary Margaret exchanged a questioning look with David, and Regina with Emma. David nodded at his wife and Emma smiled at Regina.

"Henry, why don't you go and pack a bag and then you and Neal can continue to play at your grandparents." Henry bounded up the stairs, swiftly followed by an excited Neal who would tell him exactly which toys and stories to bring. "Good idea Emma, I didn't know how else we were going to get him home." David thanked his daughter as he pulled her into a goodbye hug.

"I'll come and pick him up tomorrow, if Neal can bear to part with him."

As Emma was hugging her father, Regina had hugged Mary Margaret and was currently discussing what Henry would be having for breakfast the next day (he was under no circumstances to be allowed to eat chocolate for breakfast). Emma chuckled as she put her arm around her fiancé's waist. "Come on Regina, its Christmas, let the kid eat chocolate for breakfast." Regina rolled her eyes and kissed Emma on the cheek.

Henry and Neal raced down the stairs with a backpack swinging from Henry's arm. "Please don't run in the house." Regina pleaded as the boys reached the bottom of the stairs. "Ok now we'll come and pick you up tomorrow. And don't forget you pleases and thank yous." She added as she kissed Henry on the cheek and ruffled Neal's hair. Henry rolled his eyes but Neal was far too excited at the thought of a sleepover with his nephew and quickly ushered his parents towards the door, squealing in a high pitched voice.

When everyone had been bundled into Mary Margaret's car and Regina and Emma had stood on the porch and waved them off, the two of them moved back into the living room. Emma stopped with a start when she smelled burning and rushed into the kitchen to pull the milk off the stove. She was followed by a laughing Regina who simply wrapped her arms around her and kissed her neck. "You're an idiot." She whispered against Emma's neck "and I love you so much."

Emma turned slowly and captured Regina's lips with her own. The kiss started off slowly, they weren't in any rush. Regina's hands remained firmly planted on Emma's waist as they swayed from side to side. Emma's hands moved up from Regina's hips to her neck as she crossed her arms at the back, pulling her even closer. Regina moaned softly at the increased contact and Emma took this opportunity to deepen the kiss, exploring Regina's mouth with her tongue, humming softly. Regina thrust her hands into Emma's curls making the blonde sigh. Emma pulled away from Regina, trying to catch her breath. Placing her forehead against Regina's she smiled up at her and bit her lip. "Why don't we move this somewhere more comfortable?"

Emma's hands moved down to Regina's ass, earning a questioning look from the brunette. Emma winked. With a raise of her eyebrow, Regina jumped and wrapped her legs around the blonde's waist. Giggling, the pair moved out into the hall and up the stairs, leaving the burnt milk forgotten in the kitchen.

**Please review and let me know what you thought :) it will help me with writing the next chapter! Which will be some wedding planning and if you're ****_very_**** lucky, the wedding itself ;)**


	3. 2018

**Chapter 3**

**This chapter is basically little snapshots into the planning of the wedding. I apologise for my late update but I had 3 deadline at uni all within a week of eachother and it was mayhem!**

**Thanx again to jess (greendrinkgodess) on tumblr for being my beta 3**

**~~~2018~~~**

New Year rolled around and when Regina woke up on the 1st January 2018, she looked at her left hand and smiled. She would never get used to seeing that beautiful ring every day. She sat up and stared at her fiancé lying next to her. Smirking she bent down to place a kiss to Emma's lips, eliciting a moan from the blonde. "I could get used to waking up like this." Emma sighed as she opened her eyes to see the grinning brunette above her.

"You should be used to it by now dear. It _has_ been 3 years." Regina replied as she kissed Emma again, deeper than before. Humming slightly Emma responded by pulling Regina down and wrapping her arms around her neck. Regina chuckled as Emma's lips met her own, smiling into the kiss.

"I can't wait till I can call you my _wife_. It just sounds so right, like 'Oh, have you met my _wife_ Regina?' or 'I can't stay my _wife_ is waiting for me' or-" Emma didn't get a chance to come up with a third example as Regina silenced her with her lips.

"Then maybe we should decide on a date so you can start calling me that?" Regina suggested as she pressed her forehead against the blonde's.

Emma sighed thoughtfully, biting her lip as she spoke, "Well… umm… Christmas has been a good time for us… so… umm… why not get married then? Christmas Eve. To mark our first kiss?"

"I think that's a wonderful idea." Regina replied after she placed a soft kiss to Emma's lips. "A simple ceremony, I've done the big wedding, I don't need or want another one, I just want you."

"I'll call Archie tomorrow, He's the best choice to perform the ceremony." Emma said sleepily as she snuggled back into Regina's arms. Her fiancé kissed the top of her head and curled up to fall asleep against Emma.

**~~~29****th**** January 2018~~~**

"Emma! Emma where are you?" Regina called as she wandered through the house in search of her other half. She had just come home, the house was quiet. Not unusual for a Monday evening when Henry would be helping Belle at the shop, but Emma should have been in. She heard the door to their ensuite open and then close again, shortly followed by the shower starting.

Regina smiled as she moved up the stairs to their room, and shedding her clothes, she opened the door to their ensuite and joined her fiancé in the shower, wrapping her arms around her waist and kissing the nape of her neck. "How was your day my love?" the brunette asked as the blonde relaxed against her.

Emma hummed softly as she turned to kiss Regina. "No major law breaking. But I have decided that I'd like to invite Elsa to our wedding. The portal is still there, we could send an invitation through, and it can't hurt right?" she added questioningly.

"Sure we can. If inviting her will make you happy, it'll make me happy too." Regina replied, thinking for a moment she added "So that makes 11 people on the invite list yes?" Regina didn't wait for a response before she rattled off the small list they had compiled over the past 4 weeks. "Henry, Mary Margaret, David, Neal, Belle, Kathryn, Ruby, Granny and Hopefully Elsa, Anna and Christopher"

"Kristoff" Emma corrected out of habit. Regina smiled playfully as kissed Emma's nose. "Either way, we should sort out some invitations soon." Emma nodded and turned to grab the Rose scented shower crème.

"Madame Mayor I do believe we have the house to ourselves for a few more hours." Emma said suggestively as she rubbed her fiancés back. "I promise that first thing in the morning I will sort out the invitations, but for now, I would like your full, and undivided attention"

"Oh yes?" Regina quirked an eyebrow up. Emma nodded

"On some pressing matters, about the structure of our bed." Emma punctuated her sentence with kisses to Regina's neck and collar bone, causing Regina to giggle as Emma's lips finally covered her own.

**~~~14****th**** February 2018~~~**

Regina awoke Valentine's Day morning to the smell of pancakes wafting up from the kitchen, Emma had worked late on pancake day and unbeknownst to Regina, she had snuck out of bed to make some this morning to make up for it. Regina trudged down the stairs rubbing the sleep from her eyes and joined her fiancé in the kitchen.

"Morning Gorgeous." Emma said as she looked round from the stove as she spoke and set the last pancake aside from the heat. "Happy Valentine's Day" she added after she kissed Regina.

"Happy Valentine's Day to you too. What time did you get in last night? I didn't hear you come in." Regina asked.

"A little after 4, Leroy did his usual pre-Valentine's day ritual of getting drunk and terrorising the town. But I did still manage to pick up a bouquet of roses for my beautiful fiancé, you haven't seen her have you?" Emma turned playfully to face Regina. "She's about the same height as me, shoulder length black hair, and chocolate eyes that look good enough to eat." Emma licked her lips as she finished speaking, making Regina blush.

"Well that's funny, I'm looking for my fiancé too. Long blonde hair, usually curled and grass green eyes that remind me of the glade I used to ride in back in the enchanted forest."

Emma chuckled softly as she pulled Regina into a soft kiss, wrapping her arms around her neck. "Why don't you go into the dining room, I'll bring the pancakes through." Emma muttered quietly once she had let go of Regina, allowing the brunette to wander into the dining room to see the table laden with everything for pancakes and set for 3 (Henry had yet to drag himself out of bed) with a bouquet of 11 white roses in the centre and a small jewellery box accompanied by a singular red rose on Regina's plate.

Emma carried through the plate of pancakes on a tray with 2 mugs of coffee and a mug of hot chocolate for Henry and watched as Regina opened the jewellery box to reveal a pair of blue rosebud earrings. "That's not the only present I have for you." Emma spoke as she placed the tray down on the table. "I know we've been discussing about who should have Henry as their best man and I've decided that, because you raised him, that he should be your best man."

Regina's mouth gaped slightly as she absorbed what Emma had just said. "I'll ask Belle to be my Maid of Honour." Emma added. "Emma, wouldn't you rather ask Elsa?" Emma looked confused and opened her mouth to respond before Regina cut her short "because, her reply to our invitation arrived yesterday, and well, she'd love to come." She added as she pulled out Elsa's reply from the pocket in her pyjamas. Before Emma could respond they heard the thumping of Henry coming down the stairs. "Morning Moms." Henry said sleepily, stopping suddenly "I interrupted something didn't I?" he added as he sat down at the table.

"No kid it's all good. We were just discussing whose best man you should be." Emma said as she ruffled his hair, smiling at Regina. Henry looked between his moms, trying to process what was being said through his sleepy haze. Eventually Regina spoke.

"Henry, Will you be my best man?" She asked, a gigantic smile on her face. Henry's face brightened immediately.

"Why do you even need to ask? Of course!" Henry practically screamed and got up to hug his mother. After he left go of Regina he turned to face Emma and spoke, "So who's going to be your best man? Or woman." He added quickly

"Elsa!" Emma replied with a grin, matching that of Regina's plastered on her face. "Now come on let's eat before the pancakes get cold."

**~~~7****th**** March 2018~~~**

"Belle? Have you seen Henry?" Emma asked as she moved through to the back room of Belle's shop. In the years since Mr Gold had left, Belle had merged the library and his shop into one so she could do both jobs. Henry liked to help out when he was free as Belle was still technically family after all.

"I haven't seen him today, is something wrong?" Belle replied as she finished putting away her inventory and moved back into the shop.

"We were going to look at wedding venues today but I can't find him anywhere, and my phone died this afternoon so I haven't been able to call him." Emma muttered confused as she followed Belle.

"I wouldn't worry Emma, He's probably just with Grace." Belle added once she thought of it "What venues have you had in mind?"

"None as of yet, that was the whole point of today. I want somewhere simple and beautiful. Regina doesn't want a huge expensive wedding, but I just don't know where is beautiful enough for my Regina." Emma said as she collapsed into an empty chair behind the counter.

There was silence for a moment before Belle spoke again. "What about the well? Where Rumple and I got married? It was simple and beautiful and it'll be lovely that time of year, if a little cold."

"Belle, that perfect! The cold doesn't bother me, and Elsa is coming so I'm sure she'll be able to help with the weather." Emma thought for a moment before continuing; "but wait, do you mind if Regina and I get married there? It won't be… weird for you will it?" She asked carefully.

"Emma, it's nice of you to think of me, but this is your day. Rumple gave into the darkness inside of him, he chose it over me. I've moved past it and the well where we got married has no effect over me anymore." Belle replied placing her hand on Emma's shoulder comfortingly. Emma smiled at her friend

"Can I borrow your phone to call Regina? I need to tell her I've found somewhere." Belle nodded as Emma got up to find the telephone.

Emma only spoke to Regina briefly, only saying that she had found a venue and that she would be at the office in twenty minutes to pick her up. Emma hugged Belle before she left and invited her over for dinner later, seeing as Henry apparently had other plans.

"Em please tell me where are we going?" Regina spoke, slightly nervously, from her place in the passenger seat of Emma's beetle. "I've told you, it's a surprise. But one I know you'll love. Belle actually reminded me of it." Emma responded as she parked the car on the edge of the forest, just a few trees away from the well. She opened her door and moved round to the passenger side and crouched to look at Regina and smiled "We're here, well close enough anyway. Come on." She said holding out her hand. Regina took it and gave it a squeeze before climbing out of the bug.

Emma led her fiancé through the trees to where the well stood. Regina took a deep breath as she surveyed the location, Emma still holding her hand as she waited for the verdict. She didn't have to wait long as soon Regina flung her arms around Emma and hugged her. "Em this is perfect! This is exactly the kind of place I always wanted to get married at." Her voice trailed off slightly at the end as she remembered Daniel but she smiled as she looked up at Emma and saw her future grinning back.

Emma understood why Regina had gone silent and simply hugged her tighter as she looked around at where they would be getting married at the end of this year, sighing as she did so. "We can put some chairs along here and the trees will give us cover even if it snows mid ceremony and we can walk down the middle of the chairs and Elsa can sprinkle a fine layer of snow to make it more picturesque and-" Emma was cut off by Regina's lips colliding with her own. "Emma, you're babbling." She said with a smile as she pressed her forehead against Emma's. "Let's go home. We can sort all those details out later, because now we finally have a venue."

Taking Emma's hand in her own, Regina led them back to the car, looking over her shoulder and smiling back at the well.

**~~~23****rd**** April 2018~~~**

"Regina?" Emma wandered in through the door and through to the kitchen in search of her fiancé. "I'm in the study." Regina's voice sounded from the other side of the staircase, confirming her location. Emma opened the door and found the brunette slumped over her desk with a furrowed brow as she poured over some boring town paperwork.

"Hello gorgeous, how was your day?" Emma asked as her arms snaked around Regina's waist and she placed her chin on her shoulder. "Stressful. I hate Mondays. If I'm not sorting out some town business of some sort I'm thinking about where we're going to have our wedding reception. I mean we can't really have it outside because everyone will freeze and I don't feel right imposing on Granny and asking her to do it the day before Christmas when she's still open anyway and I just-" Regina's voice stopped suddenly as she was spun around in her chair and a chaste kiss was pressed to her lips.

"Babe you need to breathe." Emma whispered as she pressed her forehead to Regina's. "We don't need a big fancy reception. Hell we can ask my mom to do it if we…" Emma's voice trailed off as she thought about this for a moment. "Why don't we do that? Mom would love to do it, and they have the space and they're used to doing the town Christmas party and-" now it was Emma's turn to be cut short as Regina claimed her lips. "If you stop babbling and call her, we can settle this now."

Emma grinned and pulled her phone out of her pocket and sat on the edge of Regina's desk with her hand in her fiancé's. "Hey mom." There was a moment of silence in the study as Mary Margaret answered her daughter. "Yeah I'm good, look Regina and I have a question for you. How would you like to hold our wedding reception?" there was a shriek from the other end of the phone and Emma held her phone away from her ear whilst Mary Margaret squealed. "Oh Emma I would love to! I'll be round shortly and we can talk about what you want." Mary Margaret's voice wafted from the speaker on Emma's phone and Emma placed the phone back to her ear and told her she'd see her soon. Hanging up she put her phone back in her pocket and smiled at Regina "See I told you." Emma said sticking her tongue out.

The doorbell rang about a half hour later and Regina opened the door to allow Mary Margaret inside, pausing briefly to hug her before ushering her into the lounge where Emma was sat. Emma stood to hug her mother before sitting back down next to Regina. "So, what did you have in mind for the reception?" Mary Margaret asked as she sat down on the chair next to the fireplace and took out a notepad and pen.

The couple exchanged a look before Emma smiled at Regina and the latter spoke; "Nothing extravagant. That's the main idea. I'm sure you remember my last wedding, it was completely over the top and I never wanted that. We just want to keep it plain and simple. There will only be 14 people there, well 12 adults, Neal and Anna and Kristoff's daughter Eliza." Regina added this last bit looking at Emma to check, but Emma was too busy looking at her mother to notice. Mary Margaret's cheeks had coloured slightly and she was looking down, a small smile playing across her lips.

"Mom? Something to add?" Mary Margaret blushed harder at this question, raising her head slowly she took a deep breath and spoke; "There'll be three children at the reception. David and I are going to have another baby." Emma squealed and jumped up to hug her mom, Regina followed suit at a slower pace and without the ear-splitting noise.

"Congrats mom, that's amazing!"

"Yes congratulations Mary Margaret. That is great news. When are you due?"

"End of September, so she'll be about 3 months by the time you two get married."

"She? I'm going to have a baby sister?" Emma squealed again once Mary Margaret nodded and hugged her daughter.

"Well this is all lovely but we need to sort out your reception." Mary Margaret said as she sat back down and gestured for Regina and Emma to sit back down as well. "Something simple then, to cater for 12 adults and 3 children, I'm sure I can manage that."

"Mary Margaret, are you sure you can manage that on top of caring for a new-born? Because I'm sure we can find someone else or-" Regina was cut off by Mary Margaret's eager reassurances.

"No I'll be fine, I'm Snow White. I can manage. It's sweet of you to ask though Regina thank you."

"Mom if there's anything we can do please let us know, don't overwork yourself." Emma said hugging her mother once more as they walked to the door.

"I will, don't you two worry." Mary Margaret assured them as she walked down the path to her truck, leaving her daughter and Regina on the porch.

**~~~27****th**** May 2018~~~**

Murmuring incoherently Emma hugs Regina tighter to her, refusing to acknowledge the morning light streaming in through the open curtains which the couple had neglected to close the night before."Em?" Emma mumbled her acknowledgment and Regina continued; "What do you think of a honeymoon in Canada? That is of course if you want a honeymoon, I realise we haven't discussed it but I just thought-" Emma clumsily tried to silence Regina with a finger to her lips but ended up tapping her nose. Chuckling slightly Regina shook Emma awake.

"Emma. Wake up dear."

"I'm awake." Emma muttered unconvincingly. Regina sighed and pressed her lips to Emma's, a tried and tested method of waking up her fiancé, pulling away once she was certain that Emma was responsive enough to talk. "I was enjoying that." Emma pouted.

"Well we can continue once we've discussed what to do about a honeymoon."

"Bribery will get you everywhere Miss Mills. Canada sounds lovely, a small cabin in the mountains maybe, so we can watch the sunrise and we can sit by the fireside at night, wrapped up in a blanket eating smores, drinking wine." Emma sighed blissfully as she looked at Regina to see what she thought. She had fallen asleep.

Emma giggled quietly and pressed her lips to the brunette's, giving her the same treatment she had received. "I hope you won't be falling asleep like this on our honeymoon, or we'll be having words." Emma said playfully.

"It all just sounds so perfect. How long shall we go for? One week or two?"

"How about just the one week? We're going to have to leave Henry with my parents and they'll have my baby sister and Neal to look after as well. I would feel bad going for longer. We can take another holiday once Henry is in college and we don't have to worry about him." Emma added

"Sounds wonderful. Now Miss Swan, where were we?" Regina stared at Emma's lips and licked her own, pouncing on her fiancé in a fit of giggles.

**~~~24****th**** July 2018~~~**

It was a hot summer's day in Storybrooke and Emma and Regina had agreed to keep their shopping for dresses separate so as to keep an element of surprise to their big day. Today Emma was on her way to Boston to sort out her and Elsa's dress. Having left absurdly in the morning she was already halfway to Boston, with the windows wound down and some music blaring. Stopping briefly for coffee she only had another hour and a half before she arrived at her destination.

Pulling up outside the boutique dress store, Emma took a deep breath before getting out of her bug and opened the door to the store. "Good Morning. You're an early riser." Emma had barely set foot in the door before a bouncy redhead jumped in front of her and welcomed her into the store. "My name is Lydia, how can I help you today?"

"Hi I'm Emma. I'm looking for a bride's dress and a dress for a Maid of Honour." Emma responded, in a less excited tone than Lydia but with a smile on her face.

"Of course, now are you the bride or the maid of honour?" Emma blushed slightly as she told Lydia that she was the bride and blushed even more when Lydia offered her congratulations. "So what kind of dress are you looking for? When is your wedding? What kind of theme do you have?" Lydia reeled off a list of questions and tried to keep up.

"Well we're getting married on Christmas Eve, but we don't really have a theme and I have no idea what kind of dress I'm looking for." Emma replied nervously.

"That's ok, that's why I'm here. I'll help you find the perfect dress to stun your fiancé."

Lydia pulled out a selection of dresses for Emma to look at, and replaced them as Emma disguarded the more extravagant ones. Soon enough the only dresses left were those with a simple cut and elegant lines, and no diamonds or sequins. Emma tried on each of the 7 dresses that were left until she looked in the mirror and gasped. "I think this is the one."

"Emma you look gorgeous. It's definitely the one! I'll set it aside" Lydia exclaimed as she put the other dresses back on the rail. "Now what did you have in mind for you Maid of honour's dress?" she continued "Is she available for a fitting, or do you have her measurements."

"She's out of the country until December but she's the same size as me." Emma responded from behind the curtain whilst she got out of her dress and handed it back to Lydia so set aside.

"I was thinking, simple again, maybe knee length." Emma added as she stepped out of the changing room to peruse the bridesmaid dresses.

"Will she not be cold in a knee length dress?" Lydia questioned as she started to pull out a selection of their dresses.

"Nah, the cold's never really bothered her." Emma said suppressing a giggle as she thumbed through the dresses that Lydia had laid out.

"We have pretty much every colour dress you could want, so if you find a style you like but want it in a different colour, I'm sure we can find a colour you want." Lydia added as she watched Emma paw over the dresses. Empire line, A-line, column, halter-neck, strapless, sleeved. The selection Lydia had picked out seemed never-ending.

Emma lifted up and A-Line dress in a midnight blue, low in the front and back but with a lace panel that split into straps once it hit the neck. The main body of the dress was made of satin but the skirt was made up of 3 layers of chiffon over a satin base allowing the skirt to flow beautifully. "I love this style, and the colour matches the ring I gave my fiancé almost to the shade." Emma noticed as she admired the dress.

Smiling she handed it to Lydia "I'll take it. Thank you so much for your help Lydia you've been absolutely amazing. My fiancé is coming in later this week, I'll make sure that she knows to ask for you."

Lydia blushed as she put the blue dress in a dust bag and rang up the cost of both dresses on the register. "Thank you Emma that's so sweet of you to say. I hope your wedding is as magical as it sounds." Lydia gave Emma a quick hug and opened the door for her as she collected her dresses and walked out to her car.

Regina had started the long drive up to Boston at 6am, having dragged Henry out of bed half an hour earlier. Emma had told her which shop to go to and she had told her to ask for 'Lydia' as she had been 'such great help'. With Henry asleep in the front seat, Regina was free to choose the radio station, opting for some relaxing music. As she pulled up outside the dress shop Henry started to stir "are we there yet?" he asked sleepily.

"We're here honey, but we're a bit early. Why don't you go grab us breakfast, stretch your legs a bit." Regina said, ruffling Henry's bed head and handing him a twenty dollar note. Yawning Henry opened the door and walked over the road to the nearest coffee shop, returning 5 minutes later with 2 coffee's and 2 almond croissants. Handing them to his mother, he joined her as she leant against the car gazing at the dresses in the window.

Lydia unlocked the door to the shop and smiled at the two stood against the car finishing off their coffees; "You must be Regina. Emma told me all about you." Regina flushed a deep red as she moved to shake Lydia's hand. "This is our son, Henry. He's my Best Man." Lydia shook Henry's hand after Regina's and led them inside.

"Did you want to sort out Henry first or yourself?"

"I think we had best sort out Henry first." Regina said smiling as she looked over at the small selection of suits that stood in the corner.

Lydia smiled and led Henry off to find a suit in his size that he (and Regina) approved of. Eventually they settled on a simple 3 piece black suit with midnight blue piping along the edge of the waistcoat and a matching tie.

"Henry, look so dashing." Regina whispered getting teary eyed as she acknowledged that her little prince had grown up so, well, charming.

"Moooom" Henry whined as Regina pulled him into a hug, crushing his arms to his sides. "Can't. Breathe." He complained as his mother's grip tightened.

"I'm sorry, it's just you look so handsome." Regina said as Lydia handed her a tissue. "Thank you Lydia, I'll take that one."

"Of course Regina. Now what did you have in mind for your dress?" Lydia asked as she placed the box of tissues back on the counter.

"Nothing too 'poofy', I've been down that road before. A simple cut maybe with some embellishments on the bodice." Lydia nodded and moved to the rails to start pulling out dresses.

Once she had a good selection of dresses laid out, Regina moved to the changing room with the first dress. It was a basic empire line dress with straps, no diamonds. Although Regina loved the length, she wasn't too fond of the fit. Lydia handed Regina another dress and then set about putting the rest of the empire line dresses back on the rail.

The next dress Regina tried on had a drop waist and a sprinkling of diamonds along the asymmetrically strapped bodice but it just didn't _look_ right so Regina sighed and moved on to the next dress.

Several dresses later Regina had almost given up hope, until she heard an audible gasp from Henry. "Mom that's it. That's the dress."

"Do you really think so?"

"You look so beautiful, it's got to be that dress." Henry said looking at Lydia who confirmed that she did look incredible.

"Alright then. Lydia, I'll take this one please." Regina smiled as she turned in front of the mirror admiring her reflection.

"Thank you so much for all your help Lydia. I think any other person would've gone mad at the amount of dresses I tried on but you have been a saint!" Regina said from behind the curtain as she changed out of her dress and handed it back to Lydia to place in a dust bag. Once she had pulled on her clothes again she moved to the desk to pay, thanked Lydia one last time, collected her purchases and followed her son out of the door to her car.

**As always please follow/fave and especially review! The next chapter is the actual wedding and I'll try and get it up ASAP!**


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